A Love Story That Never Really Was
by Kitty and Cupcake
Summary: She was just there, out of reach. But he refused to try. High School AU, one-shot, pure GrUvia.


**So, first FT fanfic, huh...**

**Yeah, yeah, we know, we shouldn't be doing this when we haven't updated two fanfics in, like, EVER.**

**But this idea was just bugging the back of my head that I had to call Cupcake at two in the morning.**

**The title is cheesy; it's like a chick-flick or a romantic paperback novel.**

**Mostly in Gray's POV, which is why we made Juvia's POVs shorter.**

* * *

_Theirs was a story that never really was..._

* * *

Gray first saw her in a public library, on a lazy, sunny noon, the summer before sophomore year.

Lucy sat in a table with the other two, having a staring contest with her laptop screen.

Natsu had fallen asleep, face against a book.

Erza was multitasking, tapping wildly at her phone and reading a novel.

And he just roamed around, hoping to find anything that would interest him

As he searched a row of books about fictional magicians, or alchemists, he noticed another pair of eyes that observed on the other side of the shelf.

Those eyes were navy blue, with long lashes. Every blink seemed to flutter, interest flickering, gleaming in the dark blue orbs.

He stared at them, but the eyes stared at the row of books.

He was afraid to look away, but he did.

And when he looked back, they were gone. He frowned.

"Excuse me."

He turned to his left, and there were those eyes again, on the lovely porcelain face of a girl. She had blue hair in tight curls, pale pink lips in a somewhat bored frown. A white cardigan was draped over her shoulders, and she wore a sundress in a color that clashed with her hair.

He hadn't seen her before; she must be new in Magnolia. She looked about his age; she must be transferring to his high school. Or the private all-girls Catholic school on the other side of town.

"Uh, yeah, sorry." He said, and quickly walked away.

Why hadn't he said anything else?

When he came back, Lucy had shut her laptop, Natsu had woken up, and Erza stood up, asking them where they should go next.

And he looked back at the girl, silently wishing he would see her again.

* * *

Juvia first saw him across the street, two days after she moved in with her cousin.

He was tall, with dark hair and lightly tanned skin. His expression was dull, wearing nonchalance like a shirt. Shoulders slumped, hands in his pockets.

He was with two other girls, and an energetic boy who always made enthusiastic comments.

She couldn't hear them, and frankly, she didn't quite care.

But somehow, for reasons she didn't know, she was drawn to the boy the most.

The light went green, and she walked down the pedestrian lane.

She felt like something went off when she passed him, her shoulder lightly brushing against his arm.

Looking back at that...

She wouldn't say it was love at first sight, not really.

It seemed more like a feeling that she would see him again.

* * *

The second time Gray saw her was when school started.

He was leaning against his locker in the hall, when he saw the familiar shade of blue in the distance.

He feels an odd beating in his chest, fast and disturbing.

He hated it.

Was that her, in the dark blue sweater, and the tight blue curls?

He wants to take a few steps towards her, so he could see for sure.

But he doesn't.

Was it really her, with the dull expression and long-lashed navy blue eyes?

He wants to run to her and stare at her face, so he could know for sure.

But he doesn't.

He wonders what is wrong with him.

He wanted to push it away, and pretend that would fix it, or better yet, pretend it didn't exist.

That, he does.

He hears the familiar call of his name, and he walks opposite from her.

He wonders what is wrong with him, and then suddenly he doesn't want to know.

* * *

Juvia doesn't see him here.

She feels a pang of disappointment, and quickly disregards it.

Why was she even looking for him, anyway?

She steps into the classroom, and the only empty seat is one at the back, next to a blond girl with brown eyes.

She sighs and rolls her eyes, and sits down.

"Hi, I'm Lucy Heartfilia."

She turns her head to the right, and the blonde is smiling.

"Juvia." She says bluntly. "Loxar."

"Nice to meet you." Says the girl; Lucy, and smiles even wider, if possible.

She fashions a fake smile. "Pleasure."

And she's having a bad day already.

* * *

She's in his classroom.

Gray wants to stand and touch her hair, just to know for sure.

He stops himself, because that would be weird.

She takes the empty seat in the far corner at the front, and he feels like a mysterious force had put her as far away from him as possible.

His Spanish teacher is late.

And when she arrives, she smiles at the new face.

"What's your name?"

When she asks her this, he realizes; He doesn't even know her name.

"Juvia," said the girl. "Juvia Loxar."

That name lingers in his head, it echoes, it rings, it has been burned there whether he likes it or not.

The teacher smiles. "Oh, lluvia. Did you know it's-"

"-Spanish for rain." Juvia finishes for her.

He sees the irritation flicker in her eyes, and he knows she's heard that phrase a million times before.

The teacher doesn't see it, but what she does see is the faint smile Juvia offers.

"I know," says the bluenette. "I get that a lot from middle school Spanish teachers."

* * *

He's in three of her classes, and his name is Gray Fullbuster.

Like some odd, unknown force, it always feels like they're put apart in every class.

She wonders why she's even thinking about it.

She decides to take the route that not much people take, and a label on a door catches her eye.

_LIBRARY_

She checks the time on her phone, and shrugs.

"Just for thirty minutes..." she mutters.

And she pushes the door, trying not to make a sound.

Somewhere in her mind, something tells her she'll be spending a lot of time in here than she does with others.

* * *

It's been a month since she came.

She was Gajeel Redfox's cousin, some pierced kid who was in one of Natsu's classes.

He's noticed that she takes the more quiet routes, the ones that others rarely take.

When she goes somewhere, she dissolves too well with the others; well enough to make it impossible to find her.

She's a bookish girl, like Lucy, and always has her nose in a book.

She rarely spoke to anyone, but some spoke of her. Apparently Lucy has met her on the first day of class.

"She's rather quiet," said Lucy. "Not much of a talker. But she's nice, I can promise you that!"

He looks for her around the cafeteria, and when he does, it's because she's sitting alone.

She's munching on an apple, a book in one hand.

He doesn't know how long he'd been watching, but she left before she finished the apple.

* * *

She's not paying attention in class.

Yes, but neither was he.

She's watching him, staring out the window, tapping fingers on his desk like he's playing a piano.

It was a bright, sunny day.

She didn't like sunny days.

She frowned and looked away from him.

She felt that she'd see him again...

But she didn't expect it like this.

* * *

One day, just because he's angry at Natsu, he takes the same hallway as Juvia.

They were on opposite sides of the hallway, and she was a few paces ahead.

He knew she felt his presence there.

He couldn't help the smile that played across his chapped lips.

* * *

Today, he took the same path she took.

That sounded deeper than she liked.

She felt a bit tense, unsure of how to respond to it.

He was on the other side of the corridor, a few steps behind, his arm brushing against the locker doors.

It would take a lot to get her to admit it, but she liked the sound of rattling locker doors that day

* * *

It's been too fast. Too fast for two months.

Well, for him, at least.

Gray already found himself taking the same routes she took.

The corridors weren't as wide as the one everyone took. These were where most of the offices were, and the library, with a few lockers that only seemed to be the reason other students were there.

One afternoon, it looks like it's going to rain.

He gets out of class a bit later, and he he doesn't see her on the same route.

There's an odd disappointment, which quickly dissolves when he sees her walking out the library.

She looks outside, and he hears a silent mutter.

He doesn't know if he would have wanted to hear it or not.

He's caught off guard when she walks opposite from him, her arm brushing against his, and he realizes the direction she's going.

The main hallway.

He turns, and he watches her, pulling an umbrella out of her bag, and disappears too fast.

Well, at least, for him.

She always seemed like the type to like isolation. No one paid much attention to her, but she wasn't ignored, either.

She was close enough, and yet, out of reach.

* * *

They've never spoken a word to each other.

But why does it feel so natural now?

He takes her route after class. And she, in return, takes the main hallway in the morning.

When her eyes travel across the classroom, for a second longer, her eyes lock with his.

She hates this feeling.

But why does it feel so normal now?

* * *

She's cut her hair.

A pixie cut this time, short and slightly messy.

And he can't help but say she looks better.

A month has passed, and he takes the main hallway upon arrival. And only a few weeks ago did he notice that she takes it every morning too.

She disappears into the crowd, but once he finds her, she can't disappear anymore.

It's like a startling blue that stands out in the crowd.

Today in class, her eyes drift across the room again, and for a second, they lock with his.

Or he's just seeing things, considering how fast her eyes rivet back at her textbook.

After class, he absentmindedly follows her to the library.

She takes the familiar left turn to the lonely corridor, and she pushes the door with ease.

And he knows she's done this a hundred times before.

He pushes the door seconds after she does, and he knows the familiar scent of books and air-conditioning.

He hasn't been here for a while, and he goes to look for books which might interest him.

He examines a row of new books, fictional and such. When he sees a familiar pair of eyes on the other side of the shelf, scanning over the books.

A nostalgic feeling came to him when he recalled that day last summer.

* * *

This isn't love.

Juvia knows for sure.

She hasn't spoken to him. Not conversationally. Not properly.

It's been six months.

He was the one who first followed her.

And slowly, unknowingly, she felt herself finding little quirks about him.

He likes tapping his pen or pencil against any surface, anything to make a sound, to break the silence.

He unconsciously licks the tip of his pen when it doesn't work.

When he reads, his finger flicks the corner of the page, tempted to dog-ear it. But he doesn't.

And she knows he knows things about her too.

She just didn't know what.

And she wasn't sure if she would have liked what he knew about her.

* * *

He wasn't sure if he had fallen in love with her or not.

For a week, he doesn't take the little corridor. For a week, he ignores.

And the weekend after that, his heart feels heavy and empty.

He wonders if he's offended her in any way.

He wonders what is wrong with him.

On Monday morning, he glances at her every time he can.

Her hair is long again, but not in its old tight curls, falling in waves over her shoulders.

This time, he knows for sure; She's beautiful.

He knows her little quirks. Tapping her fingers against her lip when she's thinking.

Humming when she's bored.

Running a hand through her hair when she doesn't know what to do.

He wonders if she knows about him too.

If she does, he wonders if it's good or bad.

* * *

She joined the swim team.

She loved water; it was comforting. It was like she belonged there.

She'll never be anywhere else.

She changes back into new clothes, her hair wet.

It's a bit late, and she's running, until she hears faint piano music.

The song is familiar, she's hummed it a few times.

She takes a peek at the small opening of the door, sees a familiar messy mop of dark hair.

And she's smiling on the way back home.

* * *

He's seen her swim, and she's amazing.

She glides into the water, like she's commanding it, like it's a part of her.

It's familiar to him; it's him every time he plays the piano.

Someday, he thinks, she'll see him play the piano.

And he'll awe her like she did him.

Who knows, maybe she has already...

* * *

Everything suddenly disappeared.

It just happened, she woke up, and suddenly, she isn't wondering anymore.

She wonders if she's back to square one; when she isn't wondering if she's in love with him or not.

She braced herself for when she'd see him.

There was nothing.

For once, she enters school without the tight, hard feeling in her chest.

She felt...free. Like she was released from chains.

And she never wanted it to stop.

* * *

He's in love with her.

For whatever crazy reason there was, he's in love with her.

But he was afraid to approach her, because he might break her, or worse.

He was content with just watching her.

It hurt to know that he was being a coward about it, but he guessed he was glad to know.

Being happy about, he'll never know.

She didn't look particularly fragile, so the fear of breaking her, he'll never understand where it came from.

She was like Erza, calm and collected, responsible, resilient, only less violent and more gentle. The way she did things; walk, speak, whatever it was, seemed poised and at ease and with grace.

She seemed like a perfectly pleasant person to be with.

But somehow she was always..._untouchable_.

She was always alone; he'd witnessed it. But she didn't seem lonely. It was almost as if she liked isolation. She was always the first one out or the last one in, and being with crowds seemed out of character for her.

Over the past nine months, he'd noticed the number of expressions she ever wore were very limited.

Her eyes always seemed blank, lips in a frown or a tight, straight line. She was hardly ever happy or pleased, and every smile she wore were faked. He's never seen her angry before, either.

He thinks...he thinks he's loved her the moment he saw her.

* * *

The feeling stopped.

She hates it.

She's wondering again if she loves him.

Someone's put the chains on her again.

She wakes up, and he's the first thing in her head.

_Do I love him or do I not?_

She same question, over and over and over again. It's echoes in her head like an irritating sing-song.

She doesn't actually _know _him. But she knows his face more than she knows others'.

They haven't particularly done anything for each other...

They were so close, yet so far.

She feels like she's been drawn to him, and he was to her, too.

She thinks for about the hundredth time that day.

And maybe...maybe she does.

Maybe...she's fallen in love with him.

* * *

He thinks he should tell her.

And then it reverts back to fear.

Then he doesn't care again.

He feels that something will happen, that will make it truly too late.

Then it turns into regret.

Regret that he never spoke to her at all.

Regret that he hates the day he fell in love with her, even.

* * *

She's leaving Magnolia.

She was ready, things packed, goodbyes said.

There was no one to say goodbye to, other than the nice Heartfilia girl and the librarian.

She told no one about this, only Lucy.

Lucy wasn't actually a friend, but she might offend her in any way if she didn't say anything.

Nothing really tied her to Magnolia, so leaving wasn't a problem. Not for her.

Nothing to tie her here.

So why did it feel like she forgot something?

"Juvia, we're leaving."

She disregards it for a moment, and for a fleeting moment, it hits her.

_Gray._

No, she doesn't want to think about him. No, not him.

No, why now?

She wipes her tears before her parents notice, and mutters an enthusiastic-sounding, "Okay."

She thinks she should've told him.

But she guessed she was just content with seeing him.

It stuck to her; a stupid belief that he was never going to go away, coming to a point that she took even just glimpses of him for granted.

She's dreading the day she laid her eyes on him, and she hates herself for it.

* * *

She's gone.

He hates himself.

He had so many chances, ignored, disregarded.

How could he have been so stupid?!

He locks himself in his room for the rest of the day, the regret too much for him.

"You're an idiot," he mutters to himself.

He doesn't know if he'll see her again.

If he does; he's taking the chance.

* * *

_It was a story that never really was._

* * *

It's a month after graduation.

It's raining.

He looks up from his phone, and sees a girl across the street. Her umbrella is the same color as her hair.

He wants to take a few steps forward, just to see for sure.

The light goes green, and she walks across the pedestrian lane.

She stops in front of him, and looks up from her umbrella.

Navy blue eyes and long lashes.

"Hi." she says.

"Hi." he says.

She smiles, and he does too.

And for once, her smile is real and genuine, not like the fake ones she fashioned those days.

"Gray." He says.

She nods. "I know."

This time, he would know her; in the right light.

This time, he's taking the chance.

This time...

"You know, it's crazy..." she said. "I've never spoken to you, but...I think..."

* * *

_"I think I loved you."_

* * *

**Yup, cheesy shit, sorry for this trash, it sounded better in my head.**

**Love you guys, see you soon, stay alive.**

**It's Kitty.**


End file.
